I have found a few UPS that I will be using with my new 27" iMac. I simply want enough run time to shut the computer down (I.e. 5 minutes) and it needs to be sine wave. Here are a few that I have found. Best recommendations? Are they compatible with Mac?

I have purchased a few UPSs over the years. Make sure you can live with it -- that the fan is not too noisy, it's not too big, and so on. I suspect you could get by with a 350VA for what you're trying to do. Smaller = quieter. Keep in mind the batteries don't last forever. In some of my APC units I've had to replace them after 3 years. Everything has needed a new battery (or 2) within 5 years.

They all look fine, with the only real difference being run time. You should investigate to find out if there are any differences in standby power as far as how much power is wasted when the UPS is just filtering and not in battery.

From reading reviews at Amazon the Cyberpower UPSs are Mac compatible, you should simply plug it in to the USB of the Mac and it will work.

Same question. I have lived in the same apartment for the past 2+ years without any brownouts or blackouts even through Sandy. I can justify spending 150 to protect a 2500 piece of equipment, but don't know if I will ever need it. Plus they are fairly large and ugly and I have nowhere to hide it

I consider a ups with power filtering to be a requirement and not just for power failure. Dust/dirt and power issues are the two biggest reasons parts fail prematurely. If I can eliminate one I am happy to do so. You don't need to spend $250 either. There are plenty of sine wave ups's out there for well under $200.

I am going to buy one of the cyberpower ones you linked. it gets rave reviews on amazon.

we had a bad power spike 10 years ago. They were working on the lines on our street. There was a huge power surge and it killed my desktop and the display. it also killed our tv. 4 days later I was driving down my street and there were 9 televisions out at the garbage.

Gives me more than enough time to shut my system down etc etc. Something like 30 minutes, even with the display on. I use the automatic software to shut down the iMac after a few minutes if the power doesn't come back on.

Gives me more than enough time to shut my system down etc etc. Something like 30 minutes, even with the display on. I use the automatic software to shut down the iMac after a few minutes if the power doesn't come back on.

I have the 1000 version of this (CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD PFC Compatible 1000VA 600W Pure Sine Wave Tower UPS). I can'r remember what the battery time was the last time I had when it was with out power... I wanna say 40min. This thing is silent when on battery, pure sine, and not terribly big at all. I would definitely recommend Cyberpower. Mine easily handles the load of the new 27in iMac, 25.5 in monitor, and couple hard drives.

I have the 1000 version of this (CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD PFC Compatible 1000VA 600W Pure Sine Wave Tower UPS). I can'r remember what the battery time was the last time I had when it was with out power... I wanna say 40min. This thing is silent when on battery, pure sine, and not terribly big at all. I would definitely recommend Cyberpower. Mine easily handles the load of the new 27in iMac, 25.5 in monitor, and couple hard drives.

Mine's certainly not silent on battery. The fan inside that kicks on isn't loud by any means, but when it kicks on (only when it switches to battery), you can hear it.

and also talked to a friend with a 2011 iMac who is using a standard APC unit.
I shut off my circuit breaker and the unit worked just fine, as it did with my PC. My friend has had his unit kick in numerous times and it worked fine for the purpose both he and I want to use it, which is to almost immediately shut down the computer and not continue to use it through the UPS. I got no noises or problems in several minutes of running off the APC unit. I figure that' probably good enough, especially after reading that link.

Gives me more than enough time to shut my system down etc etc. Something like 30 minutes, even with the display on. I use the automatic software to shut down the iMac after a few minutes if the power doesn't come back on.